New Gardening to Do!

Plant Profiles

Today in the Garden of a Lifetime: The Full Flowering of 'Arnold Promise' Witch Hazel

The last day in February, my 'Arnold Promise' witch hazel was just starting to think about flowers. This cultivar is notably later than many others.

Ten days later, its performance is at top volume. Thank goodness: March is no walk-in-the-park. Sure, Spring starts, technically, on the 20th. But that's often more of a taunt than a reality.

Cold and gray will probably dribble on into April, but Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise' lights up the weeks before.

What a plethora of pizzazz was lurking in February's lumpy buds. Each flower has four petals—the yellow streamers—that, faithful to the concept, furl and unfurl as the weather turns cold and then warms back up. The tight quartet of wine-colored things are the sepals of the calyx. They seem to be doing the heavy lifting of cossetting the yellow-and-burgundy stamens and pistil. By contrast, the petals are the roadside flaggers, waving in the face of oncoming "traffic"—insect pollinators—so they'll make a pit stop.

How marvelous that, in such a dour and still-clammy season, these bright flowers are so active, so insistent. These are the weeks when it's good to know, from any corners, what (and who) has gotten through, woken up, and is determined to grab the new season by the throat and give it a kiss.